Bring Out Your Dead!
by nothingmoreridiculous
Summary: There's more that one way to start over. Rated rather generously for Mr. McCarty's mouth. ExB


_A/N; The idea for this piece started a looooong time ago, and I've been toying with it forever and a day, so thought I would type it up while I procrastinated on editing the third chapter of_ Happily Ever After_. Feel free to comment._

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The funeral made me angry.

The flowers, the shapeless cookies that I couldn't eat, the punch, the gleaming mahogany casket- hell, even the stupid little prayer cardsmade me angry. Everyone else was varying degrees of somber and resigned, but I was pissed.

This was so many degrees of _wrong_.

Rosalie, wearing a little black dress that was stunning on her- naturally- sat next to me with a frown on her pretty face, her gloved fingers laced loosely with mine. I watched the shadows play across her face and wondered if she still thought this was best.

Next to her Alice clung to Jasper to hide the fact that she couldn't cry. I didn't need to read her mind to know that this was hard on her, though. The only person suffering more than Alice was…

Edward. He was seated in between Carlisle and Esme in the row in front of us. Our parents had taken this better than I had expected, though they had see so many ending like this, I supposed. I knew what he was thinking- how could I not? Edward will be Edward. He felt infinitely guilty for the way this had ended, and I'd wager the guilt was almost as bad as the dull, dragging sense of loss Jasper had let us feel from him when it happened.

Bella's elegy was really beautiful. Her funeral was a closed-casket affair because the body couldn't be seen by the grieving relatives. It was a relatively small overall, with Edward footing the bill through the guise of a bogus insurance policy. It was tasteful and brief and heartfelt, just as Bella would've wanted it.

Her parents cried a lot during the ceremony, her mother's stomach bulging with the new baby Renée had wanted to surprise Bella with, her father clutching at his ex-wife as though she was a physical link to his lost daughter.

But the new baby would help them heal much faster. We all knew this, Esme especially. Bella had known this as her heart had stopped.

Edward's fist clenched when he heard that thought.

'_It was inevitable, brother. All human lives have to end some time.' _Edward _really _didn't like that one. He snarled at me softly, and Esme put her hand on his shoulder as a warning. Carlisle sighed, and I could tell what he was thinking- what we all were thinking. This was going to take some adjusting to. _Especially_ for Edward.

**''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''**

I sat in front of the casket long after the ceremony was over. My family mingled in the tasteful lobby with all the relatives and friends Bella had left behind in the sun for_ us_. It was a sobering thought. Despite the fact that I knew what was really up here, looking at the smooth box made me think of all the things we were really burying today; Bella's blush, her scent, her endearing clumsiness. It was all going in the ground. The thought made my fists clench.

'_It had to happen eventually, isn't that what you keep saying? We've all had one, you know that.' _When did my internal voice begin to sound like Jasper? Sometime after 1967, right? I dwelled on this for as long as I could, not wanting to contemplate Bella.

After a while, Rose came to me and put her hand on my shoulder. "Em, it's time to go." Her voice was soft, apologetic. She may not feel that much for Bella, but she didn't like to see me sad. Rose sat down next to me when I didn't respond, and I took the opportunity to snatch her up into a hug.

"It's just not fair." I growled into her hair. She stroked my shoulders and back soothingly.

Rose finally coaxed me out of the little room, away from the casket I was feeling so protective of, so the funeral home could cremate the body and store away the remains. On the car ride back home I sat with Jasper, Edward squashed in between us so he couldn't do anything drastic and Edward-ish.

The mansion was crammed with boxes; we had been planning to move before Bella's 'accident' but now it was necessary. Edward was out of the car before Carlisle hit the brakes.

She met him on the lawn, too wound up to wait inside, probably. By the time I walked up, hand-in-hand with my lovely Rosalie, they were embracing. Bella looked up at me over her anxious husband's shoulder. "How'd it go, Emmett?" Her red eyes gleamed with worry.

I smiled for her benefit. "It was great Bells, one hell of a party. It's too bad you had to miss your own funeral."

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_A/N; So, did I get anybody? _

_I don't know if this story is worth commenting on, I am so tired right now, it may not even make sense, but I want to put it up anyway. Let me know how I did, will you? Emmett was a lot of fun to write, so if nothing else I enjoyed myself. _

_Now it's off to bed!_


End file.
